News in Brief

Date: 14 February 2024 - 21:38

News ID: ۱۲۴۶۵۵

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has narrowly voted to impeach Democratic President Joe Biden’s top border official, accusing him of lax policies that encouraged illegal immigration. By a vote of 214-213, the House approved two articles of impeachment accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of not enforcing U.S. immigration laws, which Republicans argue led to record flows of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, and making false statements to Congress.

***

PARIS (AFP) - A Paris court on Wednesday lightened a one-year prison sentence for former president Nicolas Sarkozy over illegal campaign financing, saying he needed to spend only half that time behind bars. But while lighter than the original sentence, Wednesday’s ruling was still harsher than the one-year suspended sentence that prosecutors called for. The Paris court of appeal confirmed a lower court’s guilty verdict for Sarkozy, who was convicted of hiding illegal overspending in his 2012 re-election campaign. Sarkozy was initially sentenced to one-year in prison, but the appeals court said he should serve six months, with another six months suspended. Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems since his sole term in office between 2007 and 2012.

***

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Interior Ministry has put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and State Secretary Taimar Peterkop on the country’s wanted list for the destruction of Soviet monuments, local media reported. “A case has been filed against Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and State Secretary Taimar Peterkop for the alleged demolition and damage to the monument to Soviet soldiers. Meanwhile, the above two people have been included in the Russian wanted list,” Russia’s TASS news agency cited the ministry as saying. In addition, Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys was also included in the wanted list for the same reason.“The abuse of historical memory and hostility to Russia” were the reasons why the officials were wanted, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

***

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) - The planned launch of a robotic moon lander built by Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines was called off less than two hours before Wednesday’s liftoff time and postponed for at least a day, launch contractor SpaceX said. SpaceX, the private rocket and satellite company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, said on the social media platform X that the launch team was “standing down from tonight’s attempt” because of irregular methane temperatures before loading. The precise function of the methane and its implications for the proper function of the Falcon 9 rocket were not immediately explained. The rocket’s Merlin engines run on kerosene and liquid oxygen.

***

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said. The missiles were launched about 9 a.m. Wednesday (0000 Tuesday GMT) off the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. “While strengthening surveillance and vigilance, our military is cooperating closely with the United States and closely monitoring additional signs and activities from North Korea,” the JCS said in a statement.